Every day someone comes to me with a question about the latest weight loss fad.
Garcinia cambogia, acai, and green coffee extract are just the latest in a long line of hundreds of other supplements people have tried for quick weight loss over the years I have been in practice.
While it’s true that we have an overweight country with more obesity and diabetes than ever before, it seems to me that we are so committed to hating our bodies that our weight loss craze has become the focus of self hatred rather than true commitment to health.
I have patients who think they are fat when they weigh three pounds more than their normal weight, and people who truly are overweight wanting anything to help them get rid of their dreaded fat quickly. People who have tried for years to lose weight using every conceivable diet and others who simply can’t get motivated to change how they eat. We spend our time seeking a pill to make it all better so that we don’t have to work at the real issue, finding our true health.
Notice I didn’t say, “changing our eating habits” or “exercising more”. I said, finding our true health.
Weight is a symptom of imbalance, much like other illnesses are. Our bodies are the home of our spirits and, as such, they are affected by everything including physical, emotional, and spiritual factors. When we have trouble with our bodies, it is because something is out of balance. Weight, is a many faceted problem which needs to be addressed from the perspective of finding balance.
Let me start by saying that none of the supplements even those touted by Dr. Oz on television actually work to help people lose weight. So if you are buying them you are spending a lot of money for no good reason. There is no easy little pill to take that will make you drop pounds magically.
Over the last 23 years, I’ve worked with hundreds of people who have had weight loss issues. Sometimes weight loss is as easy as changing how you eat and exercising more. My former husband would go on a diet every two years and lose 40 pounds in two months by starving himself and running a lot. He maintained that it was purely calories in versus calories out. But for most people I’ve taken care of, calories had only a little to do with weight loss. Other factors include hormonal balance, hidden infection or inflammation, digestion, emotional stress, and amount of movement.
When we attack our bodies with various supplements and work out too hard, we actually create less healing and balance.
Our true health isn’t about appearance or forcing our bodies into submission. It comes from finding the right elements to bring ourselves into proper balance, truly learning to listen to what is right for us, and getting the right support for total health.
Read more posts by Shiroko Sokitch, MD, JenningsWire blogger.
